Local bars, restaurants and taverns are joining together to raise money for the United Way. November 7-9 patrons are encouraged to head to downtown Port Clinton to kick off the I LIVE UNITED t-shirt campaign.

Participating businesses include: 1812 Food & Spirits, Bell Mell Tavern, Cielo Grande Tapas Bar, Clinton House, McCarthy’s, Rosie’s and Slater’s. These businesses will be inviting their customers to donate to the United Way. The campaign is simple; each bar and/or restaurant will have blank paper t-shirts available. For a donation to the United Way, the patron can write their name on the shirt and have it posted in the establishment.

No, more than ever, United Way needs the support from the community. United Way works to improve lives in our community by focusing their work on education, income and health. For more information call Lisa Dubbert at 419-734-6645.

Dr. Robert Putnam came home last week. He was here to speak to an Ottawa County Task Force on Aging, and to a group of community leaders gathered at the Island House a bit later. In between, he spent about an hour with Port Clinton Mayor, Vince Leone. His message was an eye-opener.

Dr. Putnam, a 1959 graduate of Port Clinton High School, is the Dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has spent the better part of the last 10 years studying the crumbling of the American Dream among America’s Youth. He caused quite a stir locally over a year ago when he wrote a piece for the New York Times, and Port Clinton appeared. His research provided a fairly grim picture of his home town.

On Friday, September 12, the United Way held its Day of Caring. The day is dedicated to educating the community on ways they can volunteer their time to give back to their community in many ways or the services that are available for families. The event was held at the Sutton Center, a resource center for many of the organizations Day of Caring supports.